


Liberations and Heroes

by ac0531



Category: The Dragon Prince (Cartoon)
Genre: Angst, Callum and Rayla are 19 in this one, F/M, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Hurt/Comfort, Medium Burn, Not the best at writing, XCOM AU, futuristic AU, this is my first fic don't judge me
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-21
Updated: 2020-03-24
Packaged: 2021-03-01 00:28:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,817
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23246272
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ac0531/pseuds/ac0531
Summary: Set in a futuristic modern AU of the Dragon Prince, Xadia has been overrun and taken control of by a hostile alien species that wishes to conquer and grow stronger. However, some humans and elves got away and began to form a resistance to fight and take back Xadia. Amongst these members is Callum, who expertises in covert ops missions to help the resistance grow and fight back the alien occupation. Things were going well, until one day when a mission goes horribly wrong, and Callum’s partner gets severely wounded. When he meets his new replacement, they soon become really good friends. However, as the two carry out more covert missions they soon start to form a bond that may turn out to be more than just a simple friendship.
Relationships: Callum/Rayla (The Dragon Prince)
Comments: 17
Kudos: 30





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> This is my very first fic, and I was excited to start writing this. I am also a huge fan of the game XCOM 2, so I was inspired to write a fanfic involving this setting. I know it may look weird, but I hope you all enjoy this story and leave your thoughts on what I can do better to improve this fic as I go on. 
> 
> I also am writing this because COVID-19 has me quarantined, so yeah.

**Chapter 1: Prologue**

Xadia was once a peaceful land filled with humans, elves and dragons. However, that all changed 10 years ago when a hostile alien race entered the world from a distant galaxy and sought out to conquer the lands for their own uses. Despite the combined efforts from all 3 factions, there was ultimate defeat, and the aliens succeeded in taking control of the lands while also enslaving nearly all of humanity and elves combined. The dragons on the other hand were driven to complete extinction, and the aliens began to transform the lands into their own. 

With their own military known as ADVENT, and technology that was far greater than anything the humans and elves could use, the aliens created a powerful regime that was ruled by a group of extremely gifted psionic wielders known only as the “Elders”. With the aliens establishing full dominion over Xadia, all hope seems to be lost. 

However, 10 years later hope seems to slowly come back as something had formed under the noses of ADVENT and the Elders. Those that escaped 10 years ago from the aliens' onslaught went into hiding and began to form a resistance to fight back. Despite the overwhelming odds at first, the resistance slowly began to improve with humans and elves working together to research, create and build weapons and armour that could help them.

However, they also formed a special band of soldiers that would carry out more dangerous missions for the human and elf factions. These missions involved sabotaging facilities, retrieving valuable intel on the aliens’ next moves, taking out high commanders, and overall using combined efforts to slowly cripple ADVENT. 

With the resistance wishing to spread and reconquer lands, the fate of the world rests on their shoulders, as they hope for one day to liberate Xadia fully from the alien regime. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Callum awoke, feeling drowsy as ever as his alarm went off. He slowly sat up after turning off his alarm clock and looked around. The room was dark, but the small amount of light that crept into the room from the rays of the sun through a window was enough for him to see that it was early morning. He fell back into his bed and simply stared at the ceiling.

_ Why do these soldier barracks have such comfy beds  _ Callum thought to himself as he stared at the blank ceiling for what felt like hours.

His eyes seemed to flutter on and off, as if forcing him to stay awake and not fall back asleep. However, his eyes eventually gave up trying to be open, and slowly drifted back to closing completely. A sudden knock at his bedroom door startled him, sending his eyes to being fully open. 

“Callum” a voice called from behind the door.

“Yes, who is it?” Callum responded in a groggy voice as he fumbled out of bed.

“It’s Commander Gren. Sorry for the sudden intrusion so early in the morning, but I was sent on behalf of your Aunt Amaya.” the voice said.

“Oh?” Callum responded as he stripped off his light pajamas.

“Yes, she wants to meet you in half an hour. She says it is something concerning your next covert ops mission” Gren replied.

“Ok, thanks Gren” Callum called as he heard him walk away. 

Callum slipped on his military shirt along with military pants while also grabbing his boots and quietly slipping them on. Before leaving his room however, he slowly turned to his bedside table and picked up a family picture that contained him at a younger age along with two adults and a baby. Looking at the photo soon began to trigger memories in Callum’s mind while a tear slowly slid from his eyes. 

When Callum was young, he lost his official father at a young age, and was left with his mother for sometime. However, his mother soon remarried and they had a second child, who became Callum’s official step-brother. 

Looking into the photo, Callum’s step dad was a tall man with brown skin and dreadlocks that reached all the way down, past his shoulders. His hands were on both of Callum’s shoulders as he smiled. His mother was slightly shorter than her husband and she had fair skin with black hair that was pulled into a tight pony-tail. In her arms she held Callum’s step-brother, Ezran. 

Before the aliens came, they lived happily together in the grand city of Katolis, with Callum and Ezran playing in the forests while also raiding the pantry to try and steal jelly tarts before eating their dinner. Sometimes Ezran would play hide-and-seek with Callum along with his pet toad, who Ez had named simply “Bait”. His dad worked as the mayor of Katolis while his mother stayed at home to look after the two boys. Things were going well, until ADVENT attacked. Callum shuddered at the memory. He was only nine while Ezran was five when the invasion happened. He remembered how he ran through the streets while holding Ezran, who held Bait, close with one hand, while his other gripped a sketchbook that he loved to doodle on in his spare time. 

He remembered how his parents instinctively told them to go and find their Aunt Amaya and that they would be right behind them once they had gotten the materials they needed and evacuated the house. When Callum and Ezran ran out of the house, Callum looked around to see explosions going off everywhere with people screaming as ADVENT transporters swarmed the skies and deployed troops that were wearing black armour, helmets that covered most of their face except for their mouth, and carrying rifles that shot pulses of dark energy. Callum could hear the ADVENT soldiers yelling out garbled language that he couldn’t make out, but it didn’t matter as he had to get away while keeping Ezran safe. 

When Callum and Ezran made it to Amaya’s house, they looked back to see their parents not too far from where they were. However, a transport ship soon hovered over them and dropped troopers and two large robotic units covered in blood red armour that blocked their path. Callum could only stare in shock as he watched these heavy robotic units march towards his parents. He watched in horror as the large MECs grabbed his step dad while troopers grabbed his mom. He recalls her mom screaming while his dad struggled to escape the robots’ grasp. 

  
“Mommy!!” Ezran cried as he tried to run back, but Callum grabbed him and held him where he was. 

Ezran began to sob as he saw his parents get thrown into a transport ship along with other civilians that were rounded up. When the ship took off and disappeared, Callum watched as tears swelled up in his eyes.

“Dad...Mom...no” Callum managed to say before he felt a pair of hands grab him from behind. 

He spun around to see his Aunt Amaya standing there, her eyes filled with fear as she grabbed Callum and Ezran’s hands and ushered them inside. From there everything else was a blur for Callum. All he remembers is his Aunt taking them away from Katolis and having them go into hiding along with other humans that escaped. Callum also remembers how he met not just humans, but elves that also managed to escape ADVENT’s onslaught. Everything about that day pained him so much that whenever he looked at the photo, he would soon tear up as his mind would force him to watch that day over and over again. 

He still felt glad that all wasn’t lost as he still had Ezran, who was now fifteen and was staying with him and Amaya in the resistance headquarters. It was Amaya that gave him this photo as she had held onto it after they escaped Katolis. She gave it to him in the hopes that he would always remember his family no matter what happened, and Callum made a promise that he would avenge them by ending the aliens’ ruling on Xadia. A sudden knock snapped Callum back into reality.

“Callum, you are needed now” Gren’s voice called from behind the door.

“Ok, I’m coming” Callum replied, his voice cracking a bit which luckily Gren didn’t hear as he heard him walking away. 

Callum wiped away the tears in his eyes before setting down the photo. With a sigh, Callum pushed open his bedroom door and stepped out, ready for the day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Expect more to be coming soon


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Callum made his way down the hallway before reaching the end, which contained an elevator to get up to the higher levels. Callum pressed the button and waited. While he waited, his mind soon began to race with how things changed gradually during the course of ten years. 

At first, the resistance was just a simple group of both humans and elves combined with absolutely no plans on how they could fight back against ADVENT. However, as time passed and movements were made to acquire materials, the resistance grew to establishing their main headquarters deep within a secluded area that was hidden from ADVENT. They soon dug in deep and made labs, engineering halls, ship hangers, and even a main communications/mission control room that was all hidden underground.

On the surface was a simple landing port that had a small military transport ship that was stolen from ADVENT during a raid while a few small buildings, which housed large elevators that lead back underground, were bunched up near the landing port. On top of one of the small buildings was an antenna that was used for radio contact with the other resistance headquarters in different parts of Xadia. 

During the course of this time period his aunt quickly rose through the ranks and became a high ranking general in the resistance army, while Callum signed up with others for doing covert ops missions when he turned sixteen. Callum signed up primarily to get revenge on those that took his parents from him, but he also signed up to help the resistance in as many ways as he could in driving ADVENT out of Xadia. 

Callum would go through a full year of intense training to end where he is now, and he felt proud of achieving these things. He was still in deep thought when a sudden ding snapped him back into reality. The elevator door opened and Callum stepped inside, hitting the button to the mission control area.

When he stepped out of the elevator he was immediately greeted to the bustling of humans and elves running around. The mission control area was set up in a large circular structure. The edges of the area were filled with computers and radios that humans and elves were using to communicate with other resistance cells. The center of the area housed a massive hologram of the entire land of Xadia. Most of the hologram was covered in red while also displaying the ADVENT symbol. However, parts of the hologram showed blue splotches, which represented the land that the resistance had taken back.

The entire area was dimly lit, but Callum could still make out where he was going while he avoided running into anything. He soon spotted his aunt standing in the center of the room, looking up at the hologram of Xadia. Gren was next to her signing when he spotted Callum and ushered Amaya to turn around to where he was.

Amaya had short black hair that was slightly draped over her left eye and she had a scar on the right side of her cheek. She was wearing a full clad or iron armor while a heavy SMG was strapped to her backside. She also had a dagger that was embedded in a sheath on her right side under her waist and she had a serious expression on her face. However, it soon softened into a genuine smile as she quickly walked over to Callum and grabbed him in a bear hug. One she put him down, she began to sign towards him. (thankfully Callum knew sign language so he was able to communicate with her easily).

‘ _ It is so good to see you Callum, sorry for bothering you really early this morning, but I have some new and surprising news regarding your next mission’ _ , Amaya signed to Callum.

‘ _ What type of news? _ ’ Callum signed back confused.

_ ‘Well, after the previous covert ops mission that went wrong, which resulted in Soren being grievously wounded. He won’t be able to return to combat at all’ _ Amaya signed to Callum while a pained expression formed on her face. At that minute, Callum’s eyes widened and winced. 

Soren was one of Callum’s close friends and his partner throughout many of the covert ops missions that were assigned to him. Just like Callum, Soren managed to escape ADVENT’s invasion with his sister Claudia, but was separated from his father during the struggle. Since then Soren has been doing covert ops missions to not just help the resistance, but also to try and find his missing father, as he believes he is still alive. Claudia, on the other hand, was assigned as a doctor and treated the wounded while her brother would go out with Callum to fight against ADVENT. 

As time passed Callum had developed a close relationship with Claudia as well, and even had a crush on her at one point. However, that soon began to fade away, and it felt better that they were just friends. Soren and Callum were regarded as “heroes” amongst many resistance members, as their work in covert missions had helped the resistance expand and retake parts of Xadia from ADVENT, yet a lot of work still had to be done. 

However, all of this suddenly took a turn for the worst on their previous covert ops mission where they were sent to destroy an ADVENT weapons facility. It started out simply, they were deployed near the building and snuck through the ADVENT defenses (soldiers, turrets, MEC’s, etc.) until they finally reached the target and applied C4. However, when they were sneaking away, they were compromised when an officer spotted them and sounded the alarm. At that minute tons of ADVENT soldiers ran at Soren and Callum, screaming and firing their guns. Callum and Soren returned fire and marked their extraction point with a flare. As they dug in, troopers began to throw red flares on the ground, meaning that ADVENT was calling for reinforcements.

“Central!! How long until extraction comes?” Soren cried into his walkie talkie as he fired at the incoming troopers.

“Hang on Soren and Callum, extraction will be here soon” Gren replied “E.T.A thirty seconds”. 

“We don’t have thirty seconds!” Callum yelled when he spotted transporters arriving and dropping off MEC’s. 

They soon began to toss explosives and continued to return fire as soldiers and MEC’s kept falling, yet more and more kept coming. 

“Callum! Blow the building!!” Soren yelled as he knifed a soldier that rushed at them. 

At that minute Callum hit the detonator and the building exploded. As it came down, many troopers tried to run but were ultimately crushed while many MEC’s were destroyed as the building remains toppled over them. At that same moment the hijacked ADVENT transport ship, (known as Firebrand for the rest of the story), appeared and touched down.    
  


“Come on,” Soren said, “let’s get out of here before more arrive. I’m pretty sure we just alerted this entire city to our presence”.

“You think?” Callum said sarcastically as they ran towards Firebrand as it opened its ramp. 

However when they were close to the ramp, a loud pulse shot echoed through the air and Soren gasped in pain as he fell. Callum turned and was horrified to see Soren lying on the ground, clutching his stomach as blood began to pool out. He then looked up to see a MEC that was crawling towards them, its large gun aimed at Callum. 

“Soren!!” Callum screamed as he ran towards him while firing his assault rifle at the MEC, finishing it for good. 

Callum quickly knelt down and grabbed Soren. He was losing blood fast, he needed help. At the same time Callum saw more soldiers coming through the smoke, so he managed to pick up Soren (despite him being heavy) and quickly carry him back into Firebrand before they took off. 

Callum was shot back from the memory when he felt his aunt put her hand on his shoulder and gave him a reassuring look. Yet Callum still remembered the horror in Claudia’s eyes after seeing Soren and put him in intensive care to ensure that he would survive. And now, despite being alive, he won’t be able to fight again. Callum soon looked at Amaya, who began to sign to him once again.

‘ _ He should consider himself lucky, a shot from an ADVENT MEC is normally accompanied by a quick death because of how large their guns are and how much dark energy radiates in each bullet’  _ Amaya signed to Callum  _ ‘However, the wound is too serious, and despite Claudia’s best efforts, Soren is in no shape to continue fighting’ _

_ ‘Then what do I do’  _ Callum signed to Amaya  _ “The next covert ops mission requires me rescuing some enslaved humans in the center of one of ADVENT’s most secure cities. It is filled with many troopers, officers, stun lancers and maybe even soldiers with new and improved armour thanks to the dragon scales they have. It will be impossible as a one-man job’ _ . At that minute Amaya smiled and ushered Callum to walk with her to the elevator. 

_ ‘That is why I requested that you get a new partner to help you with your future missions’  _ Amaya signed as she pressed the button that would lead them to the underground manufacturing hangers  _ ‘and she just arrived this morning. She is pretty excited to be working with a well known 'hero' throughout the resistance _ ’. 

At once Callum flushed an embarrassed smile as his cheeks went slightly red after seeing the last few parts of what Amaya signed to him. Once the elevator reached the manufacturing hangers, Callum followed his Aunt.

  
_ A new partner  _ Callum thought to himself  _ I wonder who she is. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you all enjoy this new chapter
> 
> The next chapter will be coming out some time next week


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

Callum followed Amaya through the manufacturing hangers as they made their way to a smaller hallway that led to a small room. When they reached the door, Amaya stopped and turned around to Callum.

‘ _ I’ll wait out here for you’ _ Amaya signed ‘ _ you go on in and meet her’ _

_ ‘Ok’ _ Callum signed back as he walked past Amaya and opened the door.

Stepping in, Callum saw his replacement standing on the opposite side of a table that was in the middle. 

  
“Ah, you must be Callum” the female spoke, her voice having a scottish accent to what she was saying “I’m Rayla, your new special ops partner”. 

Callum looked at her, and saw that she was a Moonshadow elf, no taller than him.

Rayla had purplish skin, snow-white hair that went slightly past her shoulders, pointed ears, blue markings that streaked downward from the bottom of her eyes, and two black horns that protruded from the top of her head, but her most prominent feature were her large purple eyes that seemed to sparkle with enthusiasm. She was lithe, wearing a blue armour set on her torso and legs with purple marks that streaked down her breast plate, while two sheaths were attached to her back; housing two swords. She had a brown belt that was strapped across her waist which housed two pistols and wore knee high boots. 

“Nice to meet you Rayla,” Callum said as he walked over and shook her hand, his five fingers grasping her palm while her four fingers did the same. 

“I’m pretty excited to be working with you” Rayla said as her voice became more enthusiastic “I’ve heard a lot about you helping the resistance push back ADVENT, and many are even praising you as a hero for all your hard work”. 

Callum felt a slight blush creep over his face as he smiled at Rayla. Luckily she didn’t see it.

“Well, I look forward to seeing you out there on the battlefield with me” Callum said “now come, General Amaya is waiting for us outside”.

Callum and Rayla walked out of the room and met Amaya, who was standing at the end of the hallway waiting for them. Amaya then led them out of the manufacturing hangers and back to the mission control center, where she soon began to debrief the two soldiers on what their next mission was. As Amaya signed to them, Gren translated what she was signing so that Rayla could understand. 

“Your mission is to enter the city of Neolandia and rescue a group of human prisoners that have been enslaved by ADVENT” Gren translated as Amaya continued to sign “you will be inserted near the city’s eastern entrance, and from there you must make your way into the northernmost area of the city where the prisoners are being held and forced to work in small prison blocks. Once you have rescued the prisoners, you will need to safely guide them out of the city. When you are out, call for Firebrand and she’ll come and pick you all up. However, please be very careful as Neolandia is one of ADVENT’s most secure cities and it is crawling with soldiers and MECs. You begin your mission in 2 hours and in the meantime, go and get suited up for combat. Dismissed”. 

Rayla and Callum nodded to Amaya before they both walked to the armory. When they entered, Callum began to suit up while Rayla tested out her swords. 

Callum slipped on an armoured steel vest along with attaching an assault rifle to his back. He wore armored knee plattings and equipped his dagger, slipping it into his sheath that he attached around his waist. He then attached a small pouch to the other side of his waist and filled it with grenades, walkie talkies, and extra assault rifle magazines, should the worst happen. 

After he suited up, he found Rayla sitting on a bench outside near the armory entrance. Callum noticed she seemed kind of off, like she seemed rather upset about something, so he decided to approach her. 

“You doing ok?” Callum asked as he approached her and knelt down to look at her. Rayla looked up and mustered a weak smile.

“Yeah, I’m ok” she replied, but Callum didn’t believe it.

“Your voice says differently” Callum teased as he got up and sat next to her. Rayla chuckled a bit as she fiddled with one of her blades. 

“Hey Rayla” Callum began “I was just wondering...what got you to join the covert ops missions for the resistance?”. 

Rayla was silent for a bit, but then let out a quick sigh before turning her head to meet Callum’s. Her violet eyes staring directly at his emerald green ones.

“It’s kind of a long story,” Rayla said.

“Well, we have a couple of hours before our mission” Callum said, “but you don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to”. 

  
“No no, it’s ok” Rayla sighed as she began “Before the aliens attacked, I used to live in the Silvergrove with my parents when I was a wee girl. However, my ninth birthday was the day ADVENT invaded and we were taken completely by surprise. My parents told me to hide while they gathered their weapons and tried to fight back. However, it was all for nothing and I witnessed them being captured and taken away by those monsters. I stayed in my house and hid under my bed as I kept on hearing screams, gunshots, explosions and the soldiers yelling in that garbled language while they searched my house. I could hear their boots thudding the ground and them smashing things until everything suddenly went quiet. I-I still stayed there until I finally acquired the courage to come out and see what happened. My entire house was ransacked and destroyed...but when I stepped out, it was worse. The Silvergrove, my home, was in complete ruin. Buildings were reduced to rubble, fire was everywhere, and... Moonshadow elves were lying on the ground..dead”. 

At that moment Rayla began to shudder at what she was recalling, and Callum felt sympathy for her. 

“Eventually” Rayla continued “I was founded by the resistance. They spotted me wandering aimlessly through the jungles and they quickly picked me up and brought me back to their headquarters in the Midnight Desert. My parents were never found, so I was adopted by two Moonshadow elves that also escaped the destruction of Silver Grove and joined the resistance: Runaan and Ethari. During the time I spent in the resistance, I was consumed by sadness and anger, wanting to get back at the monsters that took everything from me on that very day. When I finally turned sixteen, I signed up to be part of the special ops team. After a year of intense training I was tasked with my first mission, which was eliminating an ADVENT high commander. Throughout many of my covert ops missions, I was aided by Runaan and Ethari, who helped me improve as a covert ops specialist as a whole. And here I am, nineteen years old, helping the resistance in as many ways as I can with carrying out covert missions assigned to me by either my human or elf superiors”. 

Callum was still taking in everything Rayla had said to him when he saw her eyes becoming glassy, as if filled with water. Callum gently put a hand on Rayla's shoulder and she turned to look at him. 

“I know your feeling Rayla,” Callum said gently, “I too have a similar backstory as to why I am part of the special ops”.

“Well, I’m pretty sure that everyone who is part of the resistance, special ops or not, lost someone they loved a lot” Rayla replied as she quickly rubbed her eyes to get rid of the tears forming in them. Callum gave a gentle nod and smiled again.

“But you don’t have to feel like that anymore,” Callum said as he patted her shoulder “you have your adopted parents, the resistance, and even me, your new partner. And trust me, I will watch your back out there and ensure that you come back in one piece”. Rayla gave him a genuine smile.

“And I will do the same for you Callum,” Rayla replied. At that minute a loud beep was heard and a woman’s voice came on the speakers overhead.

“ _ Callum and Rayla, please report to elevator number three. Callum and Rayla, please report to elevator number three” _

“Well, that’s us” Callum said as he and Rayla both got up “do a quick double check to ensure that you have everything”.

“I have everything Callum” Rayla said as she checked to make sure she had her pistols, swords, extra magazines, a bunch of grenades and the flare that they would be using for extraction once the mission is complete.

“Good then let’s go” Callum replied as he and Rayla made their way to the elevator. Amaya was already waiting there with Gren. 

  
“We are ready Amaya,” Callum said as they all stepped into the elevator. Amaya began to sign while Gren translated.

“Good luck out there you two” Gren said as Amaya continued to sign “remember, your main objective is to rescue the human prisoners and escape without drawing too much attention to yourselves. Be careful out there as the city will be heavily guarded, but I know you guys will be ok”. 

They soon reached the surface and the pilots had already powered up Firebrand and were waiting to take off. Amaya gave Callum and Rayla quick hugs before waving at them as both of them boarded Firebrand. As Firebrand took off and Callum and Rayla took a seat, they prepared for what they were about to get themselves into.

“Alright just to recap” Callum explained to Rayla “We enter Neolandia from the east side, make our way to the northernmost area without alerting ADVENT to our presence, get those prisoners and get out before ADVENT knows we are here”.

“Got it,” Rayla said as she loaded her pistols while Callum inserted a magazine round into his rifle. After a few minutes of flying, the lights inside Firebrand turned green, notifying Callum and Rayla that they reached their destination.

“This is it, Callum” the pilot called “we are near the east entrance of Neolandia”.

“Roger” Callum replied as Firebrand landed and opened its hatch. After Rayla and Callum exited Firebrand took off, leaving the two soldiers in the woods near the entrance.

“Ready Rayla?” Callum said.

“Ready Callum” Rayla replied.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Important: the updates for this story will slow down a bit now, as I have began to work on another fanfic that will revolve on this two lovable dorks as well. The first chapter for that fanfic might be released some time this weekend


End file.
